Baseball Game Preview: Pine Ridge Panthers vs. Tavares Bulldogs

The Pine Ridge Panthers will square off against the Tavares Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with five losses in a row, Pine Ridge turned things around against Mainland on Thursday. They walked away with a 7-4 win over the Buccaneers.

Kenny Capria

Stolen Base (Career)

04/10/25 vs Mainland	4
04/03/25 vs Flagler Palm Coast	3
02/28/25 @ Seminole	3
04/18/24 vs Flagler Palm Coast	3
03/27/25 @ Eustis	2

The team relied heavily on Kenny Capria, who scored a run and stole four bases while going 2-for-4. Those four stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Gabriel Gonzalez, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-4.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Tavares). They had just enough and edged out First Academy 21-19. The victory continues a trend for the Bulldogs in their matchups with the Eagles: they've now won four in a row.

Tavares got a massive performance out of Jordan Poppell, who scored two runs and stole four bases while going 2-for-4. Poppell has become a key player for the Bulldogs: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two stolen bases, but 4-13 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Jeruel Rivera-Torres, who scored four runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.

Tavares always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .569. They are a perfect 5-0 when they post an OBP of .513 or better.

Tavares' win bumped their record up to 7-13. As for Pine Ridge, their victory bumped their record up to 10-8-2.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Monday as neither team is afraid to steal. Pine Ridge has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4.2 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Tavares struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 2.9 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.